Press conditions deteriorate in Iraqi Kurdistan

The Committee to
Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about deteriorating press
freedom conditions in Iraqi
Kurdistan, including deadly violence and official harassment.

Sardasht Osman, 23, a reporter for the opposition
semi-monthly Ashtiname and a regular contributor to Sbei, Awene,
Hawlati, and Lvinpress, was found shot to death in the city of
Mosul on May 6, according to news accounts and CPJ research. Unidentified
gunmen approached Osman the previous day on the campus of the University of Salahadin
in Arbil, where he was a final-year English student, beat him and dragged him into
a white car, according to MetroCenter, a local press freedom group. Osman’s
brother, Bashdar, told CPJ the journalist had received a number of threats in connection with an April
article in Ashtiname that was critical of a Kurdistan Regional
Government official.

We welcome your
appointment of a special committeeto investigate the abduction and murder
of Osman. We urge you to ensure that the investigation be impartial and
thorough, that its findings be made public, and that the perpetrators of this
crime be held accountable under the law.

Other recent cases
have caused us concern. They include:

·On February 10, Kurdistan Prime Minister Barham
Ahmad Salih filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against Shwan Mohamed, editor
of the independent weekly Awene, and reporter Rebwar Karim Wali in connection with
a January article critical of the prime minister. The piece urged the prime
minister to spend more time working on the needs of his fellow citizens.

·On February 14, a reporter and camera operator
for the satellite TV station Kurdish
News Networkwere harassed by police in Sulaymaniyah while
covering a demonstration by pensioners seeking greater benefits, the reporter, Bryar Namiq, told CPJ. Namiq said police
threatened to assault the journalists if they did not stop filming. Police
confiscated their video camera and detained them for one hour, he said.

·On April 17, police assaulted several
journalists covering clashes in Sulaymaniyah between security forces and
students protesting a Ministry of Education decision to change a grading system.
Soran Ahmed, a reporter for the independent biweekly Hawlati, told CPJ that security forces beat
him, seized his camera and phone, handcuffed him, and detained him for half an
hour. Ahmed said he had witnessed police insult and hit other journalists,
confiscate their cameras, and force them to leave the scene.

·Three days later, on April 20, security forces
prevented journalists from covering a protest in front of the General
Directorate of Education in Sulaymaniyah. Hawzheen Gharib, a reporter for the
independent daily Chatir told CPJ that he and three other photographers
had their equipment confiscated and damaged by the authorities.

We call on you to
ensure that journalists are not attacked, threatened, or harassed for their
work. In particular, we urge you to issue clear, public directives to all
security forces, instructing them to refrain from assaulting or obstructing
journalists who are covering news events. We call on officials in your
government to halt the practice of filing criminal lawsuits intended to silence
news coverage. And we urge you ensure a thorough investigation into the murder
of Sardasht Osman, one that leads to the prosecution of his killers.

Recent events are
damaging Iraqi Kurdistan’s international image and undermining its reputation
for tolerance of free expression and critical news coverage. Thank you for your
attention to these urgent matters. We await your reply.